Building construction



Aug. 30, 1955 c. A. HUFFMAN BUILDING CONSTRUCTION 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledMarch 9, 1953 Fig.6

7' Chester A. Huffman IN VEN TOR.

0, 1955 c. A. HUFFMAN BUILDING CONSTRUCTION 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March9, 1953 4 4 0 l f F m I w i2 2 a l% p. m m/ Z 4, 6 w 6/ $5M E Mm m px N.

4 3 J .w m w x F A United States Patent Ofice 2,716,261 Patented Aug.30, 1955 BUILDING CONSTRUCTION Chester A. Huffman, Elkhart, Ind.

Application March 9, 1953, Serial No. 341,010

4 Claims. (Cl. 20-4 skilled labor necessary in the construction of abuilding.

Another object of the invention resides in the provision of means forwedgedly interlockingly securing abutting prefabricated buildingconstruction units to each other employing a novel joint which insuresthe correct alignment of the prefabricated building construction units.

Still further objects of the invention reside in this buildingconstruction which is strong and durable, capable of being used to erecta building with a minimum expenditure of time and effort, which has goodinsulating qualities and which requires no additional expenditure ofmaterials thereby effectively reducing the cost to the builder in theconstruction of a building.

These, together with the various ancillary objects and features of theinvention which will become apparent as the following descriptionproceeds, are attained by this building construction which is disclosedin the accompanying drawings, various elements thereof being shown byexample only in the drawings, wherein:

Figure l is an elevational view of a portion of a building constructedin accordance with the present invention with parts thereof being brokenaway to show the interior construction of the building constructionunits and other parts being shown in section for greatest detail;

Figure 2 is an elevational view showing the construction of doorwayformed from building construction units employing the concept of thisinvention with parts broken away to show the framework with greaterclarity;

Figure 3 is a horizontal sectional view as taken along the plane of line3-3 in Figure 1 showing a corner construction;

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view as taken along the plane of line44 in Figure 1 showing the manner in which the building units are tiedtogether at their upper ends thereof;

Figure 5 is a vertical sectional view as taken along the plane of line55 in Figure 1 showing the construction of the building constructionunits in combination with a shoe plate which has been secured to aconcrete floor; and,

Figure 6 is a horizontal sectional view showing the construction of thejoint employed in this invention.

With continuing reference to the accompanying drawings wherein likereference numerals designate similar parts throughout the various views,and with particular reference initially to Figure 6, it will be notedthat there are provided a plurality of story height buildingconstruction units which are arranged and secured in abuttingrelationship. A joint for interlocking these building construction unitsis provided. This construction can be best seen in Figure 6 and thereinreference numeral 10 designates an outer panel of a first buildingconstruction unit while reference numeral 12 designates the inner panelof this unit. The outer and inner panels are held in spaced relationshipby suitable studs or supporting members. A vertically extending member14 is secured to the outer panel 10 by means of nails 16 or othersuitable fasteners. The outer edge 18 of the portion of the member 14which extends beyond the panel 10 is bevelled. Secured to the innersurface of the member 14 is a wedge 20 held in position by a pluralityof nails or other fasteners 22. The outer panel 24 of a second buildingconstruction unit is held in spaced relationship with the inner panel 26thereof which has secured thereto by means of nails or fasteners 28another vertically extending member 30. This vertically extending member30 has its inner edge 32 of the portion extending beyond the panel 26bevelled. A wedge 34 is secured to the outer surface of the member 34 bymeans of nails 36 or other fasteners. The first building constructionunit is placed next to the second building construction unit. The wedges20 and 34 will then cause the building construction units to becomealigned when pressed together. Further, the wedges will provide meansfor substantially stiffening the entire construction. Nails 38 may bethen used to secure the outer panel 24 of the second buildingconstruction unit to the vertically extending member 14 and nails 40 maybe used to hold the inner panel 12 of the first building constructionunit to the vertically extending unit 30. Nails 42 or other fastenersare then driven through the panel 10, the vertically extending member14, the wedge 20, and the vertically extending member 30 to securelylock the two abutting building units in secure engagement.

There is illustrated in Figure 3 a corner construction employing a jointutilizing the concept of this invention. A building construction unithaving an outer panel 44 and an inner panel 46 with a verticallyextending member 48 secured to the outer panel 44 extendsperpendicularly to another building construction unit having an outerpanel 50 and an inner panel 52 held in spaced relationship with avertically extending member 54. Nails 56 and 58 are used to secure thevertically extending members 48 and 54 to the panels 44 and 52respectively. A corner unit including a pair of corner panels 60 and 62to which there is secured an enlarged vertically extending unit 64 isprovided. A wedge 66 is secured to the vertically extending member 64and is provided with a shoulder 68 to form surfaces 70 and 72 which areadapted to engage the vertically extending member 54 and 48respectively. A comparatively large nail 74 is then used to secure theassembly. Further, nails 76 may be driven through the panel 60 and intothe vertical member 48 and nail 78 may be driven through the outer panel50 and into the enlarged vertically extending member 64. It is to benoted that the corner panels 60 and 62 are secured to the verticallyextending member 64 by means of nails 80 and 82. To further rigidify thestructure a composite member 84 is secured to the outer panel 46 bymeans of nails 86. In the assembly, as is shown in Figure 3, the nailssecuring the elements of each of the building units and corner units areshown in solid lines while the nails used to secure the units to eachother are shown in dotted lines.

Figures 4 and 5 illustrate the manner in which the upper and lowerportions of a panel constructed in accordance with this invention aresecured to the a top section member and a shoe plate respectively. The

inner panel 88 and the outer panel 90 are secured by means of nails 92and 94, respectively, to a horizontally extending member 96. Then, thetop section member 98 is nailed by means of nails 100 to the horizontalmember 96 and positioned to extend between a plurality of buildingunits. The lower portions of the building unit have the inner and outerpanel 88 and 90, respectively, secured by means of nails 102 and 103 toa lower horizontally extending member 104. Then, the building units maybe placed over the shoe plate 106 which is bolted by means of bolt 108to the concrete floor 110. Nails 112 are used to secure the lowerhorizontal member 104 to the shoe plate 106 and nails 114 and 116 areused to secure the inner panel 88 and outer panel 90 to the shoe plate106.

As can be observed from an inspection of Figure 1, when it is desired toprovide an access opening, such as a window, in one of the panels, it ismerely necessary to provide frame members 118 and 120 which extendupwardly from the lower horizontal member 104 to the height determinedby the upper limits of the access opening. Then, a horizontallyextending member 122 may be supported on the ends of the verticalmembers 118 and 120 and secured as is necessary. A transversehorizontally extending member 124 may then be terminally secured to thevertical members 118 and 120 to define the lower limits of the accessopening. This member 124 may be supported by a vertically extendingmember 126. A panel constructed so as to provide an access opening maybe readily substituted for an imperforate panel. Likewise, when it isnecessary to provide a door, a panel is constructed having the lowerhorizontal member substantially eliminated. The shoe plate 106 is alsoeliminated and the panel is constructed similar to that of the windowpanel shown in Figure 1 with the exception that a horizontal member isnot provided to define the lower limits of the access opening. Thisconstruction will provide a very acceptable door frame.

Since from the foregoing, the construction and advantages of thisbuilding construction are readily apparent, further description isbelieved to be unnecessary.

However, since numerous modifications will readily occur to thoseskilled in the art after a consideration of the foregoing specificationand accompanying drawings, it is not intended to limit the invention tothe precise embodiment shown and described, but all suitablemodifications and equivalents may be readily resorted to which fallwithin the scope of the appended claims.

panel being bevelled, a second vertically extending member secured tosaid inner panel and having a portion thereof extending beyond saidinner panel, the inner edge of the portion of said second verticallyextending member extending beyond said inner panel being bevelled, afirst outwardly tapered wedge secured to the innermost surface of saidfirst vertically extending member and a second outwardly tapered wedgesecured to the outermost surface of said second vertically extendingmember,

the said portion of said first vertically extending member beingreceived between the inner and outer panels of said second unit, thesaid portion of the second vertically extending member being receivedbetween the inner and outer panels of said first unit, said wedgesecured to said first vertically extending member wedgedly abuttinglyengaging said second vertically extending members.

2. A building construction including a first unit and a second .unitarranged in abutting relationship, each of 4 said units comprising aninner panel and an outer panel, means securing said panels in spacedrelationship, a first vertically extending member secured to said outerpanel and having a portion thereof extending beyond said outer panel,the outer edge of the portion of said first vertically extending memberextending beyond said outer panel being bevelled, a second verticallyextending member secured to said inner panel and having a portionthereof extending beyond said inner panel, the inner edge of the portionof said second vertically extending member extending beyond said innerpanel being bevelled, a first outwardly tapered wedge secured to theinnermost surface of said first vertically extending member and a secondoutwardly tapered wedge secured to the outermost surface of said secondvertically extending member, the said portion of said first verticallyextending member being received between the inner and outer panels ofsaid second unit, the said portion of the second vertically extendingmember being received between the inner and outer panels of said firstunit, said wedge secured to said first vertically extending memberwedgedly abuttingly engaging said second vertically extending members,and

at least one fastener extending through the outer panel of said firstunit, said first vertically extending member, said wedge, and into saidsecond vertically extending member.

3. A building construction including a first unit and a second unitarranged in abutting relationship, each of said units comprising aninner panel and an outer panel, means securing said panels in spacedrelationship, a first vertically extending member secured to said outerpanel and having a portion thereof extending beyond said outer panel,the outer edge of the portion of said first vertically extending memberextending beyond said outer panel being bevelled, a second verticallyextending member secured to said inner panel and having a portionthereof extending beyond said inner panel, the inner edge of the portionof said second vertically extending member extending beyond said innerpanel being bevelled, a first outwardly tapered wedge secured to theinnermost surface of said first vertically extending member and a secondoutwardly tapered wedge secured to the outermost surface of said secondvertically extending member, the said portion of said first verticallyextending member being received between the inner and outer panels ofsaid second unit, the said portion of the second vertically extendingmember being received between the inner and outer panels of said firstunit, said wedge secured to said first vertically extending memberwedgedly abuttingly engaging said second vertically extending members,said wedge secured to said second vertically extending member andwedgedly abuttingly engaging said first vertically extending member.

4. A building construction including a first unit and a second unitarranged in abutting relationship, each of said units comprising aninner panel and an outer panel,

means securing said panels in spaced relationship, a first verticallyextending member secured to said outer panel and having a portionthereof extending beyond said outer panel, the outer edge of the portionof said first vertically extending member extending beyond said outerpanel being bevelled, a second vertically extending member secured tosaid inner panel and having a portion thereof extending beyond saidinner panel, the inner edge of the portion of said second verticallyextending member extending beyond said inner panel being bevelled, afirst outwardly tapered wedge securedto the innermost surface of saidfirst vertically extending member and a second outwardly tapered wedgesecured to the outermost surface of said second vertically extendingmember, the said portion of said first vertically extending member beingreceived between the inner and outer panels of said second unit, thesaid portion of said second vertically extending member being receivedbetween the inner and outer panels of said first unit,'said wedgesecured to said first vertically extending member wedgedly abuttinglyengaging said second vertically extending members, and at least onefastener extending through the outer panel of said first unit said firstvertically extending member, said Wedge, and into said second verticallyextending member, said wedge secured to said second vertically extending5 member Wedgedly abuttingly engaging said first vertically extendingmember, aligned access openings in the inner and outer panels of saidfirst unit, and frame members between and secured to said inner andouter panels of said first unit defining said access opening andextending 10 about the periphery thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS FordSept. 7, 1943 Brent Oct. 19, 1943 Stannard et al May 23, 1944Eickelberger Nov. 21, 1944 Hancock Nov. 28, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTSSwitzerland May 16, 1946

